God and Suffering
Comments by Albert - 23 Jan 2009

Ray, unless you read the Bible on a regular basis, debating scripture with
her will not do much good. But here are a few thoughts. Scripture clearly states
that God makes concessions. For one example, Jesus said that Moses permitted in
the Law the dismissal of a wife because of the hardness of their hearts. The
text Jesus was dealing with says it was the Lord that gave that Law. Further
Jesus said it was not so in the beginning.

Jesus is our example, however, it's simplistic to assume that everything
Jesus did, I should do. For one example, Jesus left Mary and Joseph for three
days without their knowing where he was. They were clearly distressed. Yet under
normal circumstances we would say that a child that left his parents so as to
lead to their distress was breaking the commandments. I also think the
assumption that Jesus wasn't a vegetarian is not as scripturally certain as many
think. But that's a more complicated issue.